Top Moment #6: Volleyball Makes Program History with Win over McNeese State

Jul 16, 2012

CORPUS CHRISTI -Throughout the summer of 2012, GoIslanders.com will look back at the best moments and athletic performances from the 2011-12 school year.

Every Wednesday, we will bring you one of the top 10 individual performances, with Mondays bringing the year's top 10 moments. Be sure to keep tabs on GoIslanders.com throughout the summer to celebrate all the great moments.

Top Moment #6: Volleyball Makes Program History with Win over McNeese State

Oct. 22 is a day that will go down in the record books for the Islanders Volleyball program. This day would mark the first-ever win over McNeese State and also would mark new career-bests for Brianna Brink and Logen Bourque as they led their team to a five-set win.

Brink put away 24 kills on the day while Bourque added 59 assists for the Islanders.

The first set was a hard fought affair that saw the Islanders take an early lead, fall behind and then rally before suffering a 25-22 loss to the Cowgirls. On the strength of five early kills by Brink, A&M – Corpus Christi raced out to a 12-4 advantage. McNeese rallied to tie the score at 14-14 following a 10-2 run. The Islanders regained the advantage and led by a 21-17 score when the Cowgirls made their comeback. The visitors scored 8-of-9 points to take a 25-22 set for an early 1-0 lead.

After falling behind 5-1 early on in the second set, Head Coach Tony Graystone called a timeout to settle his team down. Following the break, the Islanders scored 8-of-10 points to make it a 9-7 advantage. A&M – Corpus Christi would lead the rest of the way, including by as many as five at 19-14, before taking a 25-20 final on a kill from Isabella Arcidiacono to even the match.

Set three was a battle that featured 11 ties and five lead changes as the two teams looked to gain the advantage. The two teams played to a 14-14 tie midway through the set. Following a brief Islanders lead, McNeese rallied with six-straight points to turn a deficit into 21-19 lead. With the score tied at 23-23, back-to-back points by McNeese ended the set at 25-23 as the Islanders trailed 2-1 in the match.

The fourth set would go extra points as the Islanders staved off defeat with a 28-26 victory. After falling behind early, Texas A&M – Corpus Christi rallied from being down 20-16, tying the score at 20-20. The teams battled to a 26-26 tie before a kill by Brink and a block assist by Brink and Jordan Flemmer ended the set at 28-26 to force a deciding fifth set.

The final set was the closest of all, which despite being scheduled to go to 15 featured 13 ties and five lead changes as A&M – Corpus Christi took a 17-15 final to clinch the match.

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